Over the past 6 years, a dynamic group of internationally recognized investigators in transplantation have been strategically recruited to the University of Louisville, many as seasoned, established teams. This group is poised to establish a cutting-edge Postdoctoral Research Fellow gaining program in transplantation biology to educate the next generation of scientists. This proposal directly addresses the mission of the NIH training grant program to help ensure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles related to the nation's biomedical research agenda Trainees will undertake basic research with one or more faculty members and audit courses in immunology, stem cell biology, and transplantation. Trainees must have either a Ph.D. in biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, physiology, genetics, and related areas, or a D.V.M. or M.D. and will be selected from applications received by faculty in this program. Applicants will be required to submit a CV, publication list, 3 letters of recommendation, and a statement of the specific research proposed. A Training Committee comprised of the program Director and selected senior trainers will select the trainees from among these applications. Trainees will prepare, with their mentor, a written training plan including coursework, laboratory training, and research description which will be reviewed and approved by the Training Committee. The progress of trainees will be monitored by weekly meetings with one or more trainers, presentation of the research results at the weekly seminar series, and written annual reports for additional years of support. Trainees will be expected to publish manuscripts, regularly attend and present their work at research meetings, and submit grant applications for external funding. A central integrating focus of the training program will be the lecture series comprised of weekly laboratory seminars in transplantation immunology and stem cell biology; weekly joint immunology journal club; visiting professor series; transplant conference series; cancer center chemoattractant series; and the research seminar series. These lectures not only provide an arena to develop presentation skills but also provide a venue in which experts in transplantation and related areas from throughout the world participate as speakers. The faculty in this training program has the research background, expertise, and facilities to successfully conduct this program. Well-equipped, centrally-located laboratories exist at the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics, Brown Cancer Center, and Departments of Surgery, Physiology, Biophysics, Medicine, Molecular Biology, Cardiology, Pediatrics, Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ophthalmology, Microbiology and Immunology, Internal Medicine, Pathology, Neurological Surgery, Anatomical Sciences, Medical Ethics, Biostatistics, and Neurobiology. Most trainers are also members of Institutes and Centers that serve to bring together multidisciplinary groups with interests that broadly complement transplantation. Postdoctoral fellows therefore have access to a wide variety of techniques and breadth of training experience. It is our goal that after 3 years of training, trainees will be qualified to assume research positions related to transplantation and stem cell biology in industry, academia, and biotechnology.
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